History Main / ComatoseCanary

** Subverted in the series pilot, [[spoiler:Mac was able to communicate with a woman who appeared to be in a coma, but was really [[CanOnlyMoveTheEyes locked-in]], through blinks. Unfortunately, she had something happen during the questioning that plunged her into an actual coma.]]
** Mac does the squeeze-my-hand version with Flack after the explosion in "Charge of This Post."
** He does the once-for-yes, twice-for-no thing with another victim in "Damned If You Do," but it's with the raising of a finger instead of blinking.

* Showed up in ''{{Series/CSI}}''

* A variation of this trope happens on ''Series/TheXFiles'' in season two's "One Breath". Scully is returned, unconscious and near-death, after her abduction. In this episode, we meet Dana's New-Age sister, Melissa, whose EstablishingCharacterMoment comes when she looks up from hovering her hands over her sister and says that Dana told her not to call Mulder by his first name (which he hates.) She informs him that her soul is here, and invites him to try and communicate with her as well. From Dana's comatose hallucinations, we see that Melissa ''might'' be communicating with her, but Mulder is too angry and doesn't believe her.

Not to be confused with somebody suffering from the [[CanOnlyMoveTheEyes Locked-in Syndrome]], who might or might not be able to communicate, and which frequently results in a DisabilitySuperpower.

* In ''Manga/AyashiNoCeres'', Aya visits her coma-ridden mother in the hospital with Tooya. Aya introduces Tooya to her mother, and Tooya then promises to always take care of Aya... then Aya's mother squeezes their hands.

* In ''Series/CSINewYork'':

** Mac does the squeeze-my-hand version with Flack ater the explosion in "Charge of This Post."

** Subverted in ''Series/CSINewYork'': [[spoiler:Mac was able to communicate with a woman who appeared to be in a coma, but was really [[CanOnlyMoveTheEyes locked-in]], through blinks. Unfortunately, she had something happen during the questioning that plunged her into an actual coma.]]

Not to be confused with somebody suffering from the [[CanOnlyMoveTheEyes Locked-in Syndrome]], which might or might not be able to communicate, and frequently results in a DisabilitySuperpower.

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** Subverted in ''Series/CSINewYork'': [[spoiler: Mac was able to communicate with a woman who appeared to be in a coma, but was really LockedIn, through blinks. Unfortunately, she had something happen during the questioning that plunged her into an actual coma.]]

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* One Creator/BernardWerber short story has a tree's equivalent used to solve a crime.

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* In the 2nd season of ReGenesis, Caroline's nephew Greg has been in a coma following a stoke. A neurologist is able to set up a brain scan that lets them see Greg's brain's reaction to stimulii in real time and discover they can communicate with him in a limited manner, but believe there's enough hope that brain surgery could help him emerge from the coma. Following the procedure, while he is still unconscious, they communicate with him by asking him a question, and then reciting the alphabet one letter at a time until there is a reaction on the brain scan and then starting the alphabet over again to get the next letter. [[spoiler:After asking him what he wants them to do, he spells out the answer "Let me die"]]

* One BernardWerber short story has a tree's equivalent used to solve a crime.

* A talking variation occurs in the Yakusamashi filler arc of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' when, after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, Mr. Ooishi monologues in front of a catatonic Satoko about all the things he wanted to interrogate her about. After a while, he mentions Rika's murder, and it's at this point that Satoko's face starts. Ooishi later figures out [[spoiler:too late]] that it was this that she had information about, and not the Hinamizawa Disaster. It's also worth noting that the part of the arc referred to was a hasty adaptation of the ending of another arc, although the comatose character was different.

Not to be confused with the Locked-in Syndrome, which might or might not be able to communicate, and frequently results in a DisabilitySuperpower.

* On ''MyNameIsEarl'', Earl is hospitalized after being hit by a car (again) after he doubted Karma. This time, his injuries are a lot more serious than they were the first time around, and he goes into a coma. His condition starts to deteriorate ''rapidly'', and he's actually dying. Randy and co. decide to take care of a list item, and Earl's ECG comes back up. As they do more and more list items, Earl gets better and eventually comes out of the coma.
* A variation of this trope happens on {{TheXFiles}} in season two's "One Breath." Scully is returned, unconscious and near-death, after her abduction. In this episode, we meet Dana's New-Age sister, Melissa, whose EstablishingCharacterMoment comes when she looks up from hovering her hands over her sister and says that Dana told her not to call Mulder by his first name (which he hates.) She informs him that her soul is here, and invites him to try and communicate with her as well. From Dana's comatose hallucinations, we see that Melissa ''is'' communicating with her, but Mulder is too angry and doesn't believe her.

* Showed up in ''{{CSI}}''
** Subverted in ''CSINewYork'': [[spoiler: Mac was able to communicate with a woman who appeared to be in a coma, but was really LockedIn, through blinks. Unfortunately, she had something happen during the questioning that plunged her into an actual coma.]]
* Tweaked in ''{{Psych}}''. Shawn, posing as a doctor, admonishes the interns to speak positively around the coma patient, lest they frighten him into remaining comatose. This is a dodge to get them to [[LaymansTerms speak layman]] to Shawn about the patient's condition.

* On an episode of ''[[LawAndOrderCriminalIntent Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]'', based loosely on the Terry Schiavo case, Goran and Eames [[spoiler:set up a phony situation with "yes" and "no" cards, making it appear as though the persistent vegetative person can look at a card, and her visual angle tracked to determine her responses to questions. The set up is to get the criminal who killed her doctor to believe that she can tell everything to the detectives so he will confess.]]

* In Film/SpiceWorld, three of the Spice Girls visit an unconscious boy in the hospital. Victoria jokingly suggests that Geri should take her top off, then realizes that it wouldn't do him much good as his eyes are closed. He wakes up immediately.

* One Bernard Werber short story has a tree's equivalent used to solve a crime.